How to Register Land in Kerala : A Step-by-Step Guide

Purchasing a piece of property is one of the most important financial decisions you can make in your life. There is something about buying land that makes you feel proud and gives you a huge sense of accomplishment.

Here is a step by step guide to help you register land in Kerala, in a hassle-free manner.

1. Identify the Property

The first step in purchasing a property is of course, identifying it. Pick a location that you like, and choose a property that fits your budget range. Then try to negotiate the price of the property, the mode of payment and the tenure with the seller.

2. Get a Legal Opinion

Once you have spoken to the seller and finalized the terms, it is crucial that you meet with a lawyer. They will help you obtain a legal title report of the property you intend to purchase. Some basic checks need to be done to clarify various aspects of the property and the proposed sale transaction.

You can also conduct a research of all the property documents along with your lawyer to ensure that you have all facts regarding the property, and it is a reliable purchase. The legal title report is compiled based on all the general information that has been collected. It usually takes about 3 to 5 days to prepare and submit a title report.

3. Obtain the Encumbrance Certificate

An encumbrance certificate is an important document that helps you verify whether the immovable property you plan to buy is free from claims such as loans, leases, unpaid debts, etc. The Sub-Registrar’s office issues the encumbrance certificate after verification of the relevant property documents, and it certifies all the transactions made on the property for the time period you specify. It is important that you get the encumbrance certificate (for a period of at least 30 years) before you enter into an agreement for the sale.

4. Check the Revenue Records / Mutation Details

When the title of a property is transferred from one person to another, it is recorded in the revenue records as mutation of property. The mutation is recorded in the records for land tax payment purposes. However, the mutation is not a conclusive proof of land ownership as it is just a record for the Government to decide who to collect the taxes from.

Application for mutation will vary depending on the Re-survey status in the Village in which the property is located. If the Village Re-survey has been completed and the ROR procedure has been implemented, obtain an ROR before registration. Once the registration has been completed, the mutation is automatically done based on the information in the ROR. The applicant should pay the taxes once the mutation is complete.

In Villages where Re-survey has not been completed, you will have to submit an application containing the relevant information on plain paper, along with a non judicial stamp of relevant value, copy of the title deed and prior deed to the Village Officer to initiate the mutation proceedings.

5. Sign the Agreement

An agreement is a written contract between the buyer and the seller in the presence of two witnesses. The seller agrees to sell his property, and you (the buyer) agree to buy it under the recorded terms and conditions. These conditions are mentioned in the agreement and usually include the property value, property extent, period of documentation, advance amount paid, terms regarding property encumbrance, possession, previous document details, etc. If there are any buildings or furniture present on the property, the area of the building (in sqft), furniture details (if it is included in the sale consideration amount), and a brief description of any type of plantations present on the property are also recorded.

The agreement is prepared on stamp paper and it also includes what kind of legal penalty is to be enforced if the buyer or seller violate the terms of their agreement.

6. Register the Agreement

Only registered agreements create an interest in the property and are legally enforceable. Hence it is advisable to register the sale agreement at the respective Sub-Registrar’s office. It would then reflect in the Sub-Registrar’s records, and any subsequent buyer will be able to find the existence of a valid agreement on the property. Registering an agreement attracts the relevant stamp duty and registration fees.

7. Buy Stamp Paper in the Buyer’s name and Pay Stamp Duty

The Stamp Paper has to be purchased in the name of the buyer from the State Treasury or Stamp Paper vendor depending on the value of the stamp. The value of the stamp varies based on the purchase price. Stamp papers upto the value of Rs 1 lakh can be purchased from local Stamp Paper Vendors. Anything above this value has to be bought online.

You can get the stamp duty rate from the Registrar’s office or from the official website of the Kerala Registration Department. The prevailing rate of stamp duty in Kerala is 8%, irrespective of whether the property is located in a Panchayat, Municipality or Corporation. There would be an additional registration fees of 2%. These rates will be periodically revised by the government.

8. Ascertain the Fair Value of the Land

The stamp duty is calculated based on the actual sale value of the property. However, it is mandatory that the documented sale value cannot be lower than the “fair value” of land which is determined by the government.

The existing fair value of land in Kerala was fixed in 2010, which has been revised by the Government several times. As of 2017, the fair value has been set as 50% more than that recorded in the Government fair value website. The government will introduce necessary amendments to the Government Stamp Act to enable these changes.

In Kerala is categorized into 15 types for the purpose of fair value calculation:

Commercially important Plot

Residential Plot with NH.PWD road access

A Residential Plot with Corp.Mun.Panch. road access

Residential Plots with private road access

Residential Plot without vehicular access

Garden Land with road access

Garden Land without road access

Coastal belt

Water logged land

Rocky land

Waste land

Wet land

Hill Tract with road access

Hill Tract without road access

Government Property

The fair value of land in each district in Kerala can be accessed using these links:

9. Get the Sale Deed Drafted by a Document Writer or Advocate

The Sale Deed document should be drafted by an experienced professional to ensure that it is defect free and does not cause any future complications. However, if the case may be, the buyer himself can draft the sale deed.

10. Register the Land in the Registrar’s Office

The land has to then be registered in the Sub Registrar’s office concerned. The registration must be done within the time frame recorded in the sale agreement. 2% of the cost of the land will be charged as registration fees, irrespective of the property’s location.

What You Need to Have Before the Day of Registration

You need to ensure that you have the following in place before you go for registration.

Original Title Deed

Encumbrance Certificate

Possession Certificate

Previous Deeds

Land and Property Tax Receipts

Two witnesses

Passport size photographs of the buyer and seller

PAN cards of the buyer and seller

Identification details of the buyer and seller

11.Receive the Documents after Registration

Once the registration is done, the office will provide you a receipt for the same. You can then collect the documents from the Registration Office after a few weeks.

12. Get the Property Mutated / Change the Title of the Property

In order to change the title of the property, you have to submit an application with copies of relevant documents in the village office. This is done to change the revenue record of the property from the seller’s name to the buyer’s name. This process is called ‘Pokkuvaravu’ in Malayalam. It is also referred to as ‘Thandaper Pidikkuka’ since you get a ‘Thandaper’ against your name once you mutate a property to your name.

13. Pay the Property Tax and Get Tax Receipts in Your Own Name

After the property is mutated, pay the applicable tax in your name in the corresponding village office.

Conclusion

Purchasing and registering land does not have to be slow and tedious. Follow the steps outlined above, and you will be able to breeze through the land registration process smoothly.

Thank you for contacting us. We need to look into the specific details to assess the specific situation.

But broadly we need to know how the original adharam has gone missing. To be on the safer side we need to be sure that the adharam has not been pledged with any financial institution. Commercial Banks do Equitable Mortgage which will not appear is Encumbrance Certificate and hence attested duplicate copy and encumbrance certificate does not give sufficient cover.

We need to know the exact situation in this case to be sure that the risks have been addressed. Hope it clarifies.

Apologies for the delay. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you.

The documents required for mutation include the application for mutation,and copies of sale deeds. Only these are required in case the previous ‘Thandaper’ has been mentioned in the sale deed. In case the previous Thandaper is missing in the document then they might request for all associated documents like prior sale deeds, encumbrance certificates, location certificates etc.

The owner or someone else on his behalf can make the application and usually it takes from a couple of weeks to 1 month for the process to be completed. It can take longer in some cases depending on the exact nature of the mutation involved.

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you. Mutation is the process of changing the ownership in revenue records based on the transfer deed that you have produced before the Revenue authorities. What you have mentioned is a routine procedure to check if someone has any dispute on effecting the same. Unless there is any issue with the property boundaries or with any of the documentation that has been done now or earlier there is no reason for the mutation to get blocked.The Revenue authorities will let you know in such a case and you can take corrective measures if it so happens. But unless there is an issue wrt the property, that need not happen and you can wait for the mutation to be effected in a few days time.

I want to know the details/procedures of doing pokkuvaravu, getting pattayam, changing thandaper etc for the property handedover to me by my ancestors. Please send me your contact details to my mail so that i can tell you the detailed structure of the will deed given by my ancestors. Awaiting your reply. Thank you.

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you. If we understand you correctly you have ‘TITLE’ for 6.5 cents but you are in ‘POSSESSION’ of 10 cents of property. The situation could be that, the ‘TITLE’ for rest of the 3.5 cents has not been passed on to you.It is what is usually called as ‘Virivu’ in local parlance. Or the situation could be something else.

We would require lot more details on the specific situation before any approach can be suggested. Can you please drop a note to hello@transformproperty.co.in with the details and we can try to take it forward.

I am in the “first stage” so to speak of selling my apartment. Like u have enumerated above — point by point………can u tell me the stages of selling an apartment. PRIMARILY……..I would like to know – how do I go about transferring the ownership on the title deed, to his name n how do I ensure that the money comes to my account simultaneously ? Amount involved is huge (by my standards) so obviously I am quite loathe to taking a risk / chance. 100% above board deal. So it is going to be bank to bank transfer or thro’ cheque.

I am applied for pattayam for my 2 cent kudikidappu area in kochi. My case is in land tribunal and now they asked me to appeal form 37 to corporation office & get form 36. Kindly advise the procedure to get pattayam, as am very much fed up for last 4-5 years

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting. Applying and obtaining Pattayam can sometimes be a long and cumbersome procedure due to the different steps involved. Also the steps involved would vary depending on the exact situation more often than not.

We would require further clarity before we can advise on any way forward. Please drop us a note to hello@transformproperty.co.in with full details and we can evaluate how to take it further.

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting. Registering your father’s property in your name can be achieved using a GIFT Deed written by your father in your name.
Gift Deeds amongst family members attract much lesser stamp duty compared to a sale deed and hence that would be the preferable approach.

Dear Sir
I am planning to buy 15 cent land in a panchayat, what is the stamp duty and registration fee i have to pay.
For example if fair value is Rs 200000/cent.
Please reply to my email address.
Am a NRI, does my presence is required for registration in my Name ? If no, what at the docs required? I dont have Having Adhar card & Pan card is it necessary only Passport & I.D CARD
Regards

The stamp duty for registering a property in a Panchayat is 6% and Reg Fees is 2%. So if fair value is Rs. 2lakhs per cent; then stamp duty will be Rs. 12,000 per cent and Reg fees will be 4,000 per cent.

Your presence is not required for the registration in our name; For any transaction above Rs. 5 lakhs PAN card is mandatory as per income tax rules.

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting team. Stamp Duty is 6% of the cost and Reg fees is 2% of the cost. If fair value is Rs. 40000 per cent stamp duty would be 6% * 40000 * 12 and reg fees would be 2% * 40000 * 12.

Your presence is not required for registration. Just the stamp paper with your thumb impression would do. There are no other separate docs required other than your ID proofs.

I have lost the original gift deed. Can I transfer the property to my wife as gift and get a new gift deed that way for selling the property without any problem later?
What is the registration and stamp duty charges to be incurred for transferring the property as gift to my wife? Is there any other cheaper or better way to solve the problem of loss of original gift deed?

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting team. Gifting the property to your wife will not fully eliminate the issue; but will nevertheless make the situation better since you will have a sale deed and the only missing document will be the mother deed. But buyers/banks/legal teams might ask for the missing mother deed to be on the safer side. Also take a certified copy of the deed from the respective sub registrar office and keep a copy.
It would also make sense to give out a public ad to announce the loss of sale deed to prove to others that there are no legitimate owners.

The charges are Rs. 1000 for the stamp paper and 1% or 250000 which is lower for registration fees. The State Govt has been amending these rules back and forth; Hence need to check the exact rules at the time of registration to know the rules that will prevail at that time.

The exact action to be taken depends on the specific situation. Please drop a note to hello@transformproperty.co.in and give us a call at +91 8138 800 800 if you need any further assistance.

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting team. It is not mandatory for the buyer to be physically present in the registration office; Just the thumb impression on the stamp paper would do. There is no need for a Power of Attorney to purchase land on some one else’s behalf.

My father has some property for which he don’t registered the deed. He bought it from a firm and now the firm doesn’t exist and not even a member of the firm. My father died and now is it possible for me to get ownership for the above mentioned land. Years ago my father has done fencing of the land along with our land. Please send your reply to my email address mentioned above. Please let me know in case you need further information.

From your question it is not clear how the property was bought from the firm. Is there an unregistered deed to prove the purchase from the firm? We would need lot more specific details to evaluate the situation. Please drop a detailed mail to hello@transformproperty.co.in and give us a call at +91 8138 800 800.

Dear Sir,
I am going to buy a villa in a project. What are the basic things I need to take care of? Is sale agreement registration is mandatory in kerala? Can we register sale deed at SRO without registering sale agreement? If sale agreement reg is not mandatory, then at the time of deed registration, do we need to pay 6+2 =8% fee? Please help me on this sir

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting team. Sale agreement registration is required to ensure that the buyer’s interests are safeguarded and you have a concrete proof that the seller has agreed to sell a specific property under the agreed terms and conditions on receipt of an advance.It is a mandatory condition to get ‘specific performance’ by the seller in a court if there arises a dispute in future. A sale deed can be registered without a sale agreement; There is no connection. The Sale Deed costs as we speak are 6% Stamp Duty and 2% Reg Fees.

There are quite a lot of things that you need to take care while you evaluate a purchase decision. Please drop us a note to hello@transformproperty.co.in or give us a call at +91 8138 800 800 in case you wish to discuss further.

We are in the process of partitioning our ancestral property. There is a small pond (3 cents) in the property which has a separate survey number. Though the title deed covers the area, no land tax is being accepted by the village office for this area. Is there any rule prohibiting transfer of title of this area covering the pond?
Thanking you.

There could be many reasons whty the village office is refusing to accept tax for that survey number. Need to know a lot more details to know the exact reason. A probable reason is that the said survey number could fall under ‘Govt Land category’ or any other category for which private individuals are not allowed to pay tax. Also the property’s Village records/Basic Tax Register / Thandaper Register might not be having details of this survey number details. It is very difficult to ascertain whether this land was included in the title unless the title deed has been written without any lack of clarity clearly demarcating the said ‘pond’. It could be a Public Thodu due to which the authorities might be refusing the same.

I am planning to buy and acre or two acres of land not paddy field but coconut plantation. What category of land it would be treated as? Can I build a house in this land? what are the precautions I should take while buying a farm land? The purpose of buying this type of land is doing multi-cropping and building a farm house. The places that I am looking are in Chittur and neighbouring places in Palakkad.

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting team. The category of land is defined on the basis of the Basic Tax Register ( BTR Records) that is kept in revenue records and tax is defined on the basis of the same. There are several restrictions on usage of non ‘Purayidom’ category land for non agriculture activities. The criteria has more relevance if you plan to take any loans from financial institutions. It might be a lot more difficult to get loans for non agricultural activities if the land category is anything other than ‘Purayidom’.

Hope it clarifies. In case you need to discuss this further please drop a note to hello@transformproperty.co.in or give us a call at +91 8138 800 800

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting! It is definitely possible to have multiple buyers in the title deed.You need to ensure that the document is professionally drafted to ensure that the document reflects the exact understanding that your group would have amongst us. There are multiple ways in which joint deeds can be written; hence need to be careful in choosing the right approach. Please do drop us a note to hello@transformproperty.co.in for any clarifications or do share your number and our team will get in touch with you.

The fair value of this property is quoted at Rs 600,000 per cent and therefore, the total documented value is Rs 70,00,000 (70 lakhs). Since the documented amount is over 50 lakhs, 1% TDS is being levied. Due to this reasons, the seller of this property wants to split the property papers into 2 adhaarams, in order to avoid the TDS.

Due to time constraints from my side, I would be able to stay for limited days in Kerala and I was informed that registrations of 2 adhaarams cannot be done on the same day or even on adjacent days. as a result, s 3-4 days need to be kept between the registration of these two adhaarams for the same property. Is this accurate?

Another query is regarding the payment of documented value – can this be done by a personal NRE cheque?

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM Property Consulting team. We appreciate the situation that you have indicated; but would need a lot more specific details regarding property, financials, documentation etc before we can comment on the same. But broadly we believe, that is not really the case. We have got multiple deeds done for our clients on the same day avoiding the need for you to be present on multiple occasions. The solution to your specific problem would require further discussion. Hope you understand!

With regard to your query regarding the payment option that should be possible; Any specific reason you asked?

Please give us a call at +91 8138 800 800 to discuss further. Shall send across a separate email to you with how we can take this forward.

Thank you for getting in touch with Team TRANSFORM. The OCI card is a valid identity proof and hence there is no difference with the usual procedure of buying a property in the name of an OCI. There are restrictions applicable to all NRIs in terms of the nature of property bought. If your query was regarding something else please let us know.

Thank you for contacting TRANSFORM team. It is always better to have third parties as witnesses in any contractual agreement. Having said that there is no mandatory check to see who is signing as witness. It is in the best interest of the parties involved to have neutral persons signing as witnesses.

I am a Keralite, planning to buy a house in 5 cents(land&house), corporation area where fair value is around 5 lakhs. Total comes to 70 lakhs. How should be the stamp duty calculated? Only for the land? Or for total transaction? Is there a difference in stamp duty for house?

As the widow of a holder of a share of ancestral land, I have now inherited a portion of it, to be determined in coming weeks. The whole piece is about four acres, and will be divided five ways. Some is rocky land on a hill, not suitable for agriculture, some is possibly useful for houses or agriculture with huge effort, and some is already having on it a broken down house that would need to be replaced, with some garden area near to it. I have downloaded your points, and look forward to downloading the book as well. I am a citizen of US, so cannot own agricultural land, nor could my husband who was a naturalized citizen of US.
This division is being handled with much adversity, and I am standing up against it with hopes of claiming the broken down house and some of the garden area next to it. How do i assess the value of it, and what sort of legal assistance should i be seeking? The property is in Kasargod dist. Cheruvathur village, which I could not even find on the list on your website. the papers relating to htis property are not well kept, most may be missing. I don;t even know if the taxes on the land have been kept up to date. My husband and I sent money for the taxes from about 1960-1980, but it was not paid in his name. I have very few documents from the past 40 years that can be assumed to be genuine. Thank you for whatever advice you can give to get me started.

My husband is no more now. My husband’s mother had given the right of complete property to my husband’s brother. Now my in laws are no more. My husband’s brother wish to provide me 10 cents from this property for building a house for me. i would like to know whether i will have to pay the stamp duly as normal sale or else. Please advise.

It is indeed a good information for us.
I am a NRI with layman’s knowledge on the subject. I am in a processes to own a flat in kakkanad from a reputed Builder. Now i can pay e-stamp and registration online. However my question is; should i present myself in registrars office while registering or there is any alternates… Need your advice

Thank you very much for the support and best wishes for your consultancy.

Hi.. my mother-in-law’s land is under registration process. Her father died 1 yr before. Her brother is doing the works. But telling that it will take more than 1 month to get aadharam even after getting all the required papers. Is it true? Pls reply in my mailbox.. thank you